Stinky tofu fermented at low temperature with Earl Grey black tea — you just can’t stop eating one piece after another.

Text & Photos /By Gui Xiaosun

These past two holidays have been super busy. The result of hanging out and eating with a bunch of friends? Not only did my stomach feel it, but I also somehow ended up taking way more photos than planned. I don’t even dare to count how many things I haven’t written about yet XD

But honestly, I really enjoy this kind of lifestyle — keeping myself so fulfilled that I’m in high-energy mode every day. At the very least, I make sure to organize one or two articles a day, or sort through photos. It seems like this kind of daily focus has become incredibly lively and fun. Meeting new friends, exploring with old ones, revisiting familiar spots — all of it feels meaningful and always brings out a sense of happiness.

This holiday, I met up with friends in Fengjia. This time, we specifically visited three shops we hadn’t been to before, and one of them was this: 【Fengjia Black Tea Stinky Tofu】. We deliberately arrived before six, but there was still a huge line. It actually made us want to get our hands on a serving even more. XD

This 【Black Tea Stinky Tofu】 shop is quite small. The area where they fry the tofu is only about as wide as one person. To the right is the section for toppings and condiments. If you don’t look up and search for it among the colorful signs, you might really miss it.

But as long as you remember, once you enter 【Fengjia Bento Street】, look to the left within less than half the length of the street. Just keep an eye out for the appearance of this stall and you won’t miss it. And you’ll definitely need a bit of patience — good food is always like this, everyone wants a bite XD

I met up with friends here, figuring the early birds could grab a bite first. But within just ten minutes of waiting, I deeply realized the charm of this 【Black Tea Stinky Tofu】. The customer turnout is seriously insane.

There were easily ten people in line, but luckily the tofu gets fried pretty fast, so the ‘table turnover rate’ (weird way to put it) is pretty quick. But remember, when eating at night markets, keep your eyes peeled for the direction of the line, or you might accidentally end up in the wrong one. Up

While waiting in line, the shop is actually very generous, giving out tray after tray of samples. They fry, chop, and plate everything right in front of you. Seeing a fresh batch of just-fried stinky tofu come off the fryer will seriously make your mouth water.

And I also noticed they wear professional gloves — not the regular clear kind. These gloves are probably the type that won’t melt or release any chemicals when exposed to heat, something I’ve used during experiments before XD

One person focuses on tending the fryer, another prepares the ingredients and plates the samples. If you walk by, you can try some first to see if it’s your kind of flavor before joining the line. XD

I was instantly drawn to the toppings: chili-garlic soy sauce, Korean kimchi, and pickled radish. To be honest, I thought this 【Black Tea Stinky Tofu】 would have a noticeable black tea flavor, but it’s actually not very strong. Looking closely at the shop info, I found out that the brine used for fermenting the tofu is made with Earl Grey black tea and undergoes low-temperature fermentation in the fridge. Of course, that’s what the shop says. All I know is, this stinky tofu tastes really refreshing. It’s not greasy, the outside is super crispy, and the inside is tender. XD

I really like this refreshing combo because you can separate the stinky tofu from the toppings and dip it however you like.

Because if you don’t separate them first, the tofu can get soaked in the sauce and lose that crispy fried aroma. Unless you eat it right away, the texture tends to change XD

The stinky tofu in the photo above has already had a few pieces taken by us. That night, we bought three servings of stinky tofu and took them to another place with outdoor seating, so there were already some bite marks by the time we got there. XD

The three small sections from left to right: pickled radish, chili-garlic soy sauce, and Korean kimchi. The pickled radish — we all agreed it had a sweet and sour plum flavor, really appetizing and tangy. The chili-garlic soy sauce — totally hit my taste buds. There was a generous amount of fresh garlic, and the shop was thoughtful enough to pack the soy sauce separately so you can add it yourself. Even before adding it, you could smell the freshness of the garlic. This sauce is spicy — medium level spicy XD. The Korean kimchi is probably homemade, with a hint of plum fragrance and mild spice.

Taking a bite of this 【Black Tea Stinky Tofu】 is seriously satisfying. And you can eat several pieces without getting tired of it or feeling dry and tough.

It’s just that the chili sauce is so spicy — we couldn’t stop even though it was burning our mouths. That kind of ‘masochistic’ tendency XD. It was seriously addictive, and a few friends just shared different foods while chatting away.

That’s the simplest form of happiness in life.

【Craving Fix Shop. Fengjia Black Tea Stinky Tofu】
Phone: 04 2317 4545, 0988 234 735
Main Store ／ No. 5, Lane 20, Fengjia Road, Xitun District, Taichung City (Fengjia Bento Street, inside the entrance to Guanzhilin Stuffed Intestines, to the left of Guo Jia Guo’s front door)
Second Store ／ Xia Qinghe Street Second Store, No. 12, Wenhua Road, Xitun District, Taichung City

Author of this article:［Enjoy Life Without Boredom. Gui Xiaosun］